A/N: Holy crap it's been awhile, yeah? So, so sorry about that. Forgive me?
I wanna throw a massive shout out, again to Crevette, who's story "Now and Then" is so full of feels, that I've always gotta read each chapter about 2-3 times in order to process each emotion;) so if for some reason, like say you've been away for an extreme amount of time, or something like that, you should check out her story because it's really a beautiful piece of writing;) and it's really worth the read...so, go on, head over there, don't worry, I'll wait;)
A shout out goes to garden-nomes and her story "Screamers In The Night"... A fantastic, tense piece of sci-fi that she's crafting:) It's brilliant and you all should be reading it, if you're not already
And a shout out as well goes to Michelle1017, because her story "A Time for Love" is pretty damn awesome! It's beautifully written, full of Naomily goodness and some sexy times and a pleasure to read, so again, you should check it out...
Okay, I will keep you waiting no longer...this one is kinda Naomily lite, but it does explain Jenna a little bit:)
Disclaimer: I have to count each step as I go up and down the stairs, but don't worry, I do it silently in my head:) I've had a strange craving for pancakes for the last two weeks... oh, and I don't own Skins...I don't even own the DVDs:(
Chapter 9: Memories and the Wrath of Campbell
"Hello?" The person on the end of the line greeted, clearly woken up from sleep.
Emily looked at the clock on her desk and cringed. "Fuck, Freddie! I'm sorry mate, I didn't realise how early it is."
"Emily? No, don't worry about it, I'm up." Emily could hear the smile on his face. "What's up?"
"Nothing, I just wanted say hi." Emily replied quietly, her thoughts running rampant, and she didn't know how to stop them.
Freddie sighed on his end of the line. "Emsy, you've never been a very good liar, so how 'bout you just tell me what's on your mind, yeah?"
Emily giggled at him, because it was true, she couldn't lie, especially to Freddie. "It's Naomi."
"What about her? Has she shown you that famous Campbell temper?" She scoffed at his question, because when Emily had been doing her research back in college and she found out Naomi's full name, Freddie had almost a million jokes about it.
"You do know that you can't joke about my employer that way anymore, right?" Emily said before adding, "tosser."
They both laughed, and Emily steered the conversation away from Naomi for a bit, until Freddie got right back to the point of the phone call.
"So tell me," he demanded playfully, "what's going on with Naomi?"
"Okay, but first let me ask, whenever you've been around her, have you ever felt funny?" She asked seriously.
"Like funny how?"
"I don't know how to explain it, except like...electrical pulses or tingling whenever you stand too close to her?" She knew she sounded stupid, but Freddie would understand. He always understood her.
Freddie took a few moments to think back to the times when he was around the blonde, but he couldn't remember having ever felt anything odd. "No, I've never felt anything like that, mate, sorry. Do you?"
Emily sighed this time before answering him. "Yeah. Like, I feel it now, but it's not as intense as when I'm right next to her, ya know? It's like I feel it because she's in the same house as me, and when we're working, it's more...more."
Freddie laughed at her description. "More "more"? That's a new one. What do you think it is?" He asked.
"I'm not for sure. I mean, it's not entirely unpleasant, but it's frustrating, ya know?"
There was silence on both ends of the line, until Freddie caught on to her hesitation. "What else?"
"What?" She asked quickly.
"Don't play dumb with me, Emily. What else is going on?"
"I don't know how to say this without making Naomi sound like a raving lunatic." She sighed into the phone, knowing that this is why she even called him in the first place. She had to talk to someone about this, and she knew it couldn't be Katie.
"Just say it!" He said with a laugh. "We'll deal with name calling later."
Emily thought about it for another minute, then let it out. "She talks to herself!" She blurted out, but then realised how that sounded and knew she sounded stupid.
"And?" Freddie asked after a brief pause.
Emily blinked in surprise, because he sounded calm, like she hadn't even spoke a word. "And she talks to herself? Like, a lot."
"Emsy, a lot of people talk to themselves, what's the big deal?"
"I know that Freddie, but this isn't like normal talking to yourself." She tried to explain, getting frustrated with herself, now that she had said it out loud. "Never mind, Freds, it's silly and I shouldn't be worrying about it."
She heard Freddie start to say something, when there was a knock on her door.
"Hold on, Freddie." She said quickly, before calling out. "Come in! Sorry 'bout that, Freds." She said as Naomi stepped into the room. "Hey!" She said with a smile.
"Good morning."
"What are you doing here? I thought we weren't leaving until eight?" Emily asked, slight trepidation in her voice, suddenly forgetting about Freddie on the phone. "Is something wrong?"
Naomi shook her head. "No, I just figured you'd be up and I wanted to see if you'd join me for breakfast." She said with a shrug, as if it was no big deal.
Emily was surprised and confused at the same time, but was immediately snapped out of it by Freddie, shouting at her through the phone.
"Wait...what?" Emily asked in general, not addressing Freddie or Naomi.
"Go have breakfast with her, you daft cow!" Freddie was laughing at her now. "Bye, Emily!"
She pulled the phone away from her ear when he hung up and stared at it.
"Ems? You alright?" Naomi asked.
Putting the phone down, Emily glanced up at Naomi with a smile. "Yeah, I was just catching up with Freddie." She explained, shaking her head.
"That's nice. Is this the first time you've talked to him since you've been here?" Naomi asked, curious.
"Hmm...yeah. At first it was the fact that I couldn't pick up a phone, yeah? But then we've just been so busy over the last couple of weeks, and I really haven't had the time."
Naomi looked to be deep in thought, and didn't say anything for a few minutes. Emily watched her face and noticed that she started to look guilty.
"You know you're not a prisoner here, right?" Naomi asked her quietly. "I'd hate for you to feel that you have to give up your friends."
"I don't think that, Naomi." Emily waited until Naomi looked up at her before she continued. "It's just that, I've had all this work to do, and it's not like I can pop round to his whenever I feel the need, right?" She explained with a slight chuckle and a smile, trying to put Naomi at ease.
"No, I guess not, but-,"
"No buts, Naomi. I knew what this would entail, you and Katie explained it fully to me. And I'm okay with it."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Emily couldn't take it anymore. "You said something about breakfast?"
"Oh, fuck! Shit, yeah." Naomi seemed embarrassed, but stood up, and gestured toward the door. "Shall we?"
Emily smiled at her, and followed her to the kitchen, where Emily felt more comfortable eating.
'How did Naomi know that?' She asked herself, as they sat down at the table, while Thelma prepared everything.
The next couple of hours consisted of Naomi and Emily talking, eating, arguing over certain points of the project and laughing. It was relaxing and exciting for both of them. And even though the electrical pulses were intensified the longer they were around each other, after a while, neither one of them noticed.
Finally they realised that it was time for their weekly meeting with the developers and soon found themselves at the office, the morning seemingly flying by.
"Katie, what did you do with that finance report for the last quarter?" Effy came walking out of her office, sitting in front of Katie's desk. "I need to turn that in to Gina."
The older twin stopped what she was doing to shuffle some papers around, digging a file out of the pile of folders on the corner of her desk. She took a quick glance, making sure it was what Effy asked for, before passing it over to the brunette, then went back to typing on the laptop in front of her.
Effy reached for the folder, amazed at how efficient Katie actually was. The persona she exuded was one of a wannabe WAG, but underneath the perfectly coiffed hair and stylish clothes, she actually had a brain that was proficient and organised. To say Effy was pleasantly surprised by Katie was an understatement, and she was glad beyond belief that the older twin had passed up the researching position that Naomi offered her.
Effy sat there for a moment, going over the report, pleased beyond words. "Thanks, Katie."
"It was no big deal, I just re-typed it and shit, that's all." Katie replied, not even looking up from the laptop, but was pleased that her work was noticed.
Effy smirked at the older twin, until the magnetic pull drew Katie's eyes to hers, and then the smirk morphed into a smile. "Bullshit, Katie. You're very good at this, so why hide it?"
Katie felt herself blush under Effy's stare, but she squared her shoulders and thought about the answer to that question. "I don't really hide it, Effy. I just want more out of life than being someone's secretary, yeah?"
Effy thought about her answer, but it seemed generic and fake. "No, there's more to it than that, Katie. What's the real reason?"
Katie tensed up at Effy's response, but then relaxed slightly, because she felt she could tell Effy and not be judged.
"Fine!" She snapped out, but without the heat, so Effy knew she wasn't mad. "My parents made it clear early on in my life that one of us kids would basically be required to take over the family business. And I sure as fuck don't want it to be me!"
"Why not? Fitch Fitness is a multi-million pound business! You'd be crazy to pass that up." Effy states, disbelief lacing her words.
Katie looked at her as if she was a slow child. "You don't understand what that entails." Katie said, thinking about her childhood. "It's hours, days, maybe even weeks away from home. It's long nights at the office, it's meetings with advertisers and business managers and it's never knowing when you're going to see your wife and children."
Effy thought about what Katie was telling her. "It sounds like you know all of this from experience?"
Katie sighed. "Yes, I know all too well. Oh, it looks beautiful from the outside, but our happy family hasn't always been so happy." She explained sadly.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
Katie thought about the question, and usually she wouldn't, but Effy seemed really sincere, like she really wanted to hear about it. "Kinda, but not really. If that makes any sense?"
"Of course it does, and I totally respect that." Effy said, contemplating her next question carefully. "Would you go back and change things if you could?"
Katie stopped what she was doing, again, to think about the odd question. Would she go back and change things? It was such a simple, yet strange question, one that nobody had ever asked before. Would her mother go back and change things? All the lonely nights she had to be without her husband, alone with two baby girls, and then when James came along, it became three small children?
Katie seemed very lost in thought, and Effy just sat back and watched the show that played out on the older twin's face, content to let Katie finish thinking her thoughts.
It was almost beautiful, the way Katie's face changed to reflect her thoughts, Effy thought to herself. Of course she knew that both Katie and Emily were beautiful, very much so, but there was something about Katie that she couldn't quite put her finger on. At times when they were alone like this, Katie almost became another person, and it fascinated Effy, as she studied each facet of the smaller brunette.
After a few minutes, Katie's eyes snapped to Effy, and she blushed when she saw that Effy's eyes were already locked on her, with a smirk on her face.
"What?" She asked, rather quickly, trying to cover her embarrassment with her trademark personality.
Effy's smirked turned into a small smile, as she shook her head. "Nothing. Was just waiting to see if you were going to answer the question, that's all."
"Oh, well...I don't know." Katie said, seeing Effy's face scrunch up in confusion. "You're question? Would I change things? I don't know if I would, ya know?" Effy nodded, staying silent, because she wanted Katie to keep talking. "I'm mean, we're fine now, obviously, and I know my dad loves us all, but sometimes I used to sit and imagine how it could've been, ya know, if the gym hadn't taken off. If my dad hadn't of worked so hard."
Effy was very interested now. "Yeah? What was it like in your imagination?"
Katie laughed at the childlike wonder in her voice. "Well, first, you have to understand that my dad has always been about taking care of his family, so I'd sit and imagine him being so into the gym, not realizing that it was never gonna be anything more than just a rundown gym, but at least he would've been home more, clueless about everything, but home. My mum probably would've been so concerned with appearances, doing anything to get one more step up the ladder, into decent society, ya know?
James would still be James, pervy and inappropriate, and I'd probably still be the same as well...," she trailed off, thinking again. "But I think Emily would have been different." She said, sadly.
Effy cocked her head listening, hearing the sadness loud and clear. "Why do you say that?"
Katie shrugged, unsure of why she thought that. "I'm not sure, really. I just get the feeling that I would've made sure she stayed in my shadow, afraid of her being different. Making sure she kept up appearances, for my mum's sake. I think I would have been terrified of her leaving me."
"You don't think your mum would have been as accepting of Emily, if things had been different?" Effy asked.
Katie though about it for a few seconds. "No, I don't think she would have been." Katie started typing again, slower this time. "When we were little, like around six or seven, mum started associating with some of the women in our neighbourhood, well-to-do types, and for a short period of time, she was very concerned with...presenting herself properly."
"You mean a certain type of clothes, hair and attitude?" Effy asked, a hint of recognition in her voice. "I know the type very well."
Katie cocked her head, looking at the brunette, her own curiosity piqued, but knew Effy would never tell her.
"Yeah." Katie replied.
"So? Those types are generally harmless, what was different about your mum?"
"Emily and I may be twins, but we've never been identical. I was the one that played the princess, Emily wanted to play football and get dirty. As we got older, I was the girly one, the one wearing skirts and heels, playing dress up in my mum's clothes, Emily was happy in her jeans and T-shirts, wearing her worn out Chucks." Katie smiled as she remembered their childhood. "She was happy doing her own thing, and she would defy mum, whenever she would dress us up in matching outfits, Emily would run into the garden, rip off the clothes, and run around in her knickers."
Effy laughed at the picture Katie was painting for her, but she was still confused, and it must have showed on her face, because Katie went on to explain further.
"I think mum knew, even back then, that Emily was different." Katie said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, and I think it scared her a little. She had all these "friends" of hers," Katie threw air quotes around the word friends, "telling her that no self respecting mother would let their daughter get dirty and play with the boys. So there was a small period of time when we were around eleven that mum would go on about us finding a nice boy when we got older...it was just, ridiculous really."
"So what happened?" Effy asked, going past curious and entering into being enthralled by this glimpse of the twins.
"Well, a couple of things. Mum decided that hanging out all day with a bunch of uptight snooty arse bitches just didn't cut it for her, so she told dad that she was going to start travelling with him on business trips. We were fifteen at the time, old enough to watch ourselves and James for a few days at a time, so off they went, becoming the power couple that you know today, but that also left time for us to finally figure out who we were.
Emily had been eyeing up girls left and right. I didn't say anything, because so what, ya know? So Emily liked fanny, it had nothing to do with me, it's not like I was a muff muncher." This passionate statement caused Effy to laugh, one of those rare Effy laughs that not everyone got to hear, but Katie had a way of bringing it out. Effy hadn't laughed so much since her, Cook and Naomi were younger, before Naomi changed.
"What else happened?" Effy prodded through her laughter.
"Courtney Swanson happened." Katie said, distaste in her voice.
"And who is Courtney Swanson?"
Katie shook her head, as if trying to erase some awful memory. "Courtney was one of my friends, a real piece of work, that girl was. She started hanging around and just hung onto me like a limpet. I told her my suspicions about Emily, because by then she was around all the time and it was just easy to confide in her, yeah?"
Effy nodded, having known a few girls like that back in the day.
"I didn't find out until later, that what she did was planned. Courtney thought I was angry about Emily being gay, at least that's what she told me before I beat the shit out of her." Katie said with a smirk.
"What happened to Emily? What did she do?" Effy asked, as she watched Katie squirm in her seat, as if talking about this was making her uncomfortable. "Sorry, Katie. If you don't wanna talk about it, I completely understand."
Katie shook her head. "No, it's not that, it's just...I feel like it's all my fault, because Courtney was my friend and I didn't see what she was doing."
The room fell into a tense silence, each girl taking a moment to collect themselves, until Katie broke the tension.
"She started coming over more often, staying nights, weekends and spending a lot of time with us...she always made sure to try and include Emily in whatever we had planned. At first Emily couldn't be bothered, because all we did was go shopping and talk about boys, but it was like, one day a switch was flipped, because Emily started spending time with us, like, a lot of time. She took care to dress properly, even asking me my opinion on clothes."
Effy nodded along with her, waiting to hear the rest of the story. "So why do you think it's your fault?"
"Because I didn't realise what Courtney was up to!" Katie exclaimed. "I mean, I should have known, I really should have, because it was who she was, what she did. But I never thought for one minute that Emily would fall for her shit."
"So what, this Courtney girl, played Emily?" Effy asked, surprised.
"Like a fucking fiddle! Courtney was always pulling some poor tosser into her web, using them however she wanted and then spitting them back out when they outlived their usefulness." Katie was still bitter about the whole situation, even after all these years. "Emily was finally coming into her own, ya know? Figuring out who she really was, and then this girl comes along."
"So what happened? How far did this girl go?" Effy asked, sitting on the edge of her seat.
Katie told her about the party and about catching Courtney and Emily making out, and all about how she had tried to turn it all on Emily.
"I went to Courtney's house a few days later, because I wanted to get her side of the story. Emily was so heartbroken and it pained me to see it. She felt useless and that no one would want her." Katie explained, remembering how terrible it was. "Courtney wasn't expecting me, so you can imagine the shocked look on her face, when she opened the door."
"I hope you rearranged it for her." Effy muttered, causing Katie to smirk. "Her face, I mean."
"Yeah, I got that, Effy. And yes, I did." Katie said, smugly. "What? She fucked with my family! I couldn't just let that go, ya know?" She said, when Effy raised a delicate eyebrow at her and smirked.
Both girls started giggling uncontrollably for a few minutes at the thought of Katie beating the shit out of the girl who broke Em's heart.
Katie sat back in her seat, wiping tears from her eyes. "Everything kind of exploded then, because mum and dad kept asking Emily what was wrong, but Emily wasn't really talking to anyone, so they started asking me what was going on with her."
"So I take it your parents didn't know about Emily being gay?" Effy questioned, already knowing the answer, but feeling the need to ask it anyway.
Katie shook her head. "Fuck no! Emily is actually very, very good at keeping secrets, especially her own." Katie replied. "Ems went through a time when she doubted herself after Courtney. She seemed confused for a bit, she even went so far as to sleep with JJ, just to be sure, ya know?"
This surprised Effy, which was unusual, because nothing ever seemed to phase the brunette. "Seriously? JJ?"
"Oh yeah, it caused quite the stir between Emily and Freddie for about a minute, because at one time Freddie had a huge thing for Emily, but she had always held him at arms length, telling him that she didn't wanna ruin their friendship. When the whole Courtney thing happened, you could tell that Freds was half upset and half relieved, knowing he'd never have a chance with Emily, so he let go of his crush on her, but when JJ let it slip out about him and Emily, Freddie went ballistic."
Effy sat in silence, letting this information filter through her brain, trying like hell to figure out why Emily would sleep with JJ, not that he wasn't a nice guy, but still, it was JJ. She must have had a strange look on her face, because Katie snapped her fingers to get her attention.
"Alright there, Effy?" Katie asked, amused.
Effy felt embarrassed. She always tried to maintain her aura of mystery and all-seeing abilities, but she was still trying to process everything that Katie had just told her. She flinched as Katie's fingers snapped in front of her.
"Uh?" Effy blinked at Katie's question. "Oh, um...yeah, I'm fine, it's just...,"
"Weird? Emily and JJ? Yeah it is." Katie finished for her.
"Were they a couple?"
Katie's eyes bugged at the question, then she broke out in laughter. "Fuck no! It's JJ for fuck's sake!"
Effy still looked confused. "Then...why? It's not that JJ's a minger or anything, but I just can't picture him with Emily, at all."
"I asked her about it, once the secret was out." Katie told her. "She said she did it for a couple of reasons. One reason being that he lacked self-esteem. He was watching Freddie go out all the time and bringing girls back to his shed, and it just kept getting him down, thinking he'd never be able to find a girl." Katie explained.
"And what was the second reason?"
Katie smirked, she was finding herself amused at how curious Effy was finding all of this to be. She kind of got the impression that nothing ever bothered the brunette, so seeing this girl sitting on the edge of her seat, waiting to hear what Katie was telling her was amusing, to say the least.
"Well, she had to be sure, didn't she?" Katie replied, with a shrug.
Effy thought about it, and while she might not have picked JJ to be her first, she could see why Emily did. "Yeah, I can understand that."
"After all the drama with Freddie and JJ, we had been sitting down to a nice family dinner. James was being his usual pervy self, mum and dad were discussing business, and I was trying to pay attention to them, but fuck if they're not boring when they get to twittering on about the gym, but Emily was just sitting there, not talking, not eating...she just stared at her food as she pushed it around on her plate." Katie frowned at the memory.
Effy watched Katie for a few seconds. "She felt trapped, didn't she?"
Katie quickly looked up at her, amazed that she knew. "Yeah, she did. See, Emily's always been very outgoing and always seemed to find the bright side of every situation, but at the time she didn't know how to find that, and what made it worse was the fact that she didn't think she could tell our parents."
Effy watched as tears formed in Katie's eyes, and she felt her heart flutter at the sight of the older twin's pain. Katie wiped them away and continued.
"Mum was waffling on about some charity event that we would be attending, and she just kept pestering Emily about bringing someone, and how there was a nice young man working at the Bristol gym who would be more than happy to be her date. Emily kept telling her that she didn't want any boy to take her, that she was perfectly capable of taking herself, but mum wouldn't let it go, going on and on about how it was time that Emily start looking for a nice boy to have a relationship with."
"That must've been painful to watch Emily silently fighting for her identity." Effy mused.
"It was, until Emily finally got fed up with my mum's shit." Katie said, as she started giggling at the memory, because it always made her smile. "Emsy came out in proper style then."
Effy couldn't stop the smile that graced her face, as she watched Katie become more animated, the older twin's own smile shining brightly. "Really?"
"Oh yeah, she really let mum have it. Emily's just sitting there, listening to mum's shit, the whole time she's getting angrier and angrier, till Emily finally let it out."
"What she'd do?" Effy asked.
"Emily looks right at her and proudly tells her, "I like girls, I like their rosy lips, their hard nipples, bums, soft eyes... I like tits and fanny, ya know? There, I said it!", it was great!" Katie's laughing so hard by this, that she can't control the tears streaming from her eyes. "Poor Jenna didn't know what hit her."
Effy laughed along with Katie, because it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "How did she take it?" Effy asked, as their laughter died down a bit. "She must have been fine with it, yeah? She's seems okay about."
"Yeah, now she does, but at first Mum wouldn't even look at Emily. It was so bad, that Emily went and stayed with Freddie for a while." Katie said, sobering up real quick, thinking about it. Effy didn't respond, choosing to stay silent while Katie finished her story. "Dad was fine with it and tried to make up for the fact that our mother wouldn't even mention Emily at all. There were times when dad, James and I would go get Emily and do something together, as a family, even though we obviously felt that something was missing, but it helped show Emily that we didn't care, as long as she was happy, yeah?"
Effy murmured her approval, but stayed silent.
"Dad finally had enough of mum's bullshit, when one night at dinner, he tried talking to her about Emily and she refused to acknowledge her. He totally lost then. He told her that she needed to get over herself, because who Emily chose to be with had nothing to do with her or dad." Katie sat back in her seat, looking sad.
"It must've been very hard on all of you." Effy added, when the twin went silent. "But you guys seem to be fine now. What changed?"
"Mum changed. Emily had been gone about three months, Dad and James were depressed about it, I was still seeing her every day, in school and after, but mum would go about her day as if she didn't have a second daughter."
Katie took a deep breath, knowing that she was painting her mum in a bad light, but fuck if Effy didn't have the ability to make her tell the truth and nothing but the truth. So Katie took a deep breath and told Effy what changed her mother's mind.
"Katie, love, I'm going to head into town, could you keep an eye on your brother, please?" Jenna asked, putting on her coat.
Katie came around the corner, watching her mum. "I was going to head over and visit Em-," she started to say, but was abruptly cut off.
"That's enough, Katie!" Jenna stated firmly. "Why would you want to be associated with that type of behaviour?"
Katie glared at her, crossing her arms in front of herself. "And what type of behaviour would that be?" She all but growled out, sick of her mum acting this way. "Would that be acting like a teenager? Ya know, going out with my friends and being rebellious?"
"You know exactly what I mean, Katie." Jenna snapped back.
Katie stood there, looking as if she was deep in thought. "Oh, I get it! You mean being gay!"
Jenna's nostrils flared at the word, and her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "Emily is not gay...she's just being stupid." Jenna insisted. "It's just a phase, Katie, and the sooner she realises that, the better."
Katie was joined by James and they both looked at their mum, as if she was a stranger. "You're having a fucking laugh, right?" James piped up, disbelief evident in his voice. "You do realise that she's the smartest out of all of us, yeah?"
"James! Don't you speak to me like that! You're only twelve, and you don't know what you're talking about." Jenna was fuming, her face turning red.
James stared at his mum. "I know exactly what I'm talking about! I know that my sister felt she had to leave home, because our mum is acting like a massive twat! I know that she likes tits and fanny and that makes her lesbian! And I know that this is the twenty-first century, so people should be more accepting and tolerant, but the one person, out of billions of people on this planet, who should be more tolerant than anyone else, the one person who should make her feel safe, won't even say her name!"
Katie could only stare at him as he stood his ground, fists clenched, almost going toe to toe with their mum. The smile that spread across her face was brilliant, and when Jenna looked to her for some sort of support, Katie shook her head.
"Don't look at me, I'm totally on his side." Katie smirked at her mum. "And I think you'll find that we're all on Emily's side as well, so you might wanna take that into consideration in the future."
"C'mon, Katie, let's go see Emsy."
James grabbed his coat from the hall and walked out the door, Katie following him, as they left Jenna standing there alone, shocked beyond belief.
It wasn't until later that afternoon, when Jenna was having a late lunch with some of the women from the neighbourhood, that she understood what Rob and the kids already knew.
It was after the appetisers were gone, as she waited for the main course to arrive, when Lydia Stevenson decided to drop the bomb that she'd been dying to release.
"So, Jenna, how's that family of your's doing?" Lydia had asked, with a smugness about her, getting the attention of everyone at the table.
Jenna took a sip of wine, choosing her words, because Lydia was the biggest gossip of the group. "They're fine, Lydia, thanks for asking."
Lydia smiled, her too sweet smile, like she had tasted something unpleasant, but didn't want to be rude about it. "That's lovely. And how are the girls getting along in college? Everything alright there?"
"Yes, Lydia, they're doing good in school." Jenna said through clenched teeth. 'Why do I hang around with this woman?' She asked herself, sipping from her glass again.
"I only ask because I saw one of your girls the other day. Emily, I think it was?" Lydia stated, still with that fake sweet smile, before looking at the other women at the table. "Jenna has twin girls, so it's hard to tell sometimes which is which." She explained, before turning back to look at Jenna. "She was with someone."
Jenna's stomach fluttered nervously, not really sure were Lydia was going with this. "Oh, it was probably her friend, Freddie. He's been her best friend for ages now, so I'm hoping one day...," Jenna trailed off, leaving the implication hanging, but knowing it was a lie.
Lydia chuckled. "Oh, Jenna, you don't really think that's going to happen anytime soon, do you? I saw your Emily and a very pretty young girl doing the most unnatural things outside of the school." The contempt in her voice almost tangible, Jenna felt as if she could feel it slapping her in the face.
The other women at the table gasped in shock, as Jenna tensed up and Lydia sat there, a look of triumph on her face, knowing that she had the older Fitch woman in a bind.
"How horrible!" Was the general consensus from the other women.
"I know. I've been telling Jenna for years to keep a closer eye on that girl." Lydia stated, proudly.
'Is this how I sound? Is this what Emily heads when I'm telling her she's not gay?' Jenna asked herself, as she listened to them all twitter on about her daughter, her Emily. 'They were absolutely right. I'm a complete bitch!' She thought about Emily, Rob, Katie and James, and suddenly guilt flooded throughout her body, causing the tight leash that she had on her anger to snap.
"So what?" She lashed out at them, determined to be strong in the face of Lydia's oncoming verbal assault.
Lydia looked at Jenna, her sneer firmly in place. "So what? Jenna, your daughter is a disgusting young girl! Surely you see how badly this will reflect upon you. If you'll remember correctly, I have been telling you for a couple of years now, that you needed to keep a tight reign on that child, now look at what's happened!"
Jenna slammed down her glass so hard, that it almost shattered. "And what, exactly, has happened?"
"Well, she's not normal, is she?" One of the other ladies commented. "She's a freak of nature."
Jenna saw red at that very moment. This was her child they were talking about! Her beautiful, smart, wonderful daughter! Her Emily!
"How dare you? How dare any of you to sit there and pass judgement on something you have no knowledge of? There is nothing wrong with my daughter, at all!" Jenna spat out, the fury raging inside of her, spilling out as if she was a volcano about to erupt. "I'll have you all know, that my Emily is an honour student, she is smart and funny, she works almost full time at the gym, and she's a hard worker, unlike some peoples children," Jenna glared at the women, knowing that they would know who she was talking about, "and she plans on a career in journalism. Can anyone else at this table claim the same about their kids?" Jenna looked around the table, noticed that all of them were staring at the table, embarrassed.
All except Lydia, who's sneer was now a permanent fixture on her face.
"That may be, Jenna, but at least our children aren't shameful, dirty sinners!" She said, smugly, sure that Jenna would back down.
"I don't know about that, Lydia. Wasn't that your son that was incarcerated last year for indecent solicitation of a minor?" Jenna responded, watching the other woman's face blanch. "Oh, didn't think we knew about that, did you? Thought you'd kept that dirty little secret under wraps, aye?"
Lydia was getting angrier by the second. "Really, Jenna? Is that the best you can come up with? That girl was seventeen!"
"Yes, but isn't David almost thirty? And something has to be wrong if he has to pay for it!" Jenna countered sweetly, knowing that Lydia had more skeletons in her closet than anyone else at this table. "But while that may be a bit more acceptable than my lesbian daughter, let's add the fact that your precious son is also one of Bristol's most promising drug dealers, shall we?"
Again, the other women around the table gasped, but this time at Lydia's secrets.
Jenna turned to address the woman on her left. "I'm pretty sure, Harriet, that when your daughter was placed in hospital last summer for a drug overdose, those drugs came from David." Jenna said, causing Harriet to snarl at Lydia.
"Your son sold drugs to my daughter?" The woman demanded, as Lydia sat there, red faced. "And you knew about his...activities?"
Lydia stammered, unable to find words, knowing that Jenna was effectively dethroning her place in their society.
"Don't say a word!" Harriet snapped at her. "As far as I'm concerned, you and I are through." With those words, she stood up, looked at Jenna and said, "Thank you, for bringing this to my attention." And stormed out of the restaurant, immediately followed by the other three ladies, leaving Lydia and Jenna alone.
Jenna looked at the other woman, then rummaged through her bag, pulling out some pound notes and setting them down on the table. "You see, Lydia," Jenna spoke quietly, making sure she had the other woman's attention, "I'd rather have a lesbian daughter over a drug dealing paedophile. Because Emily is a hundred times better than your son. And so what if she likes girls? That doesn't make her a monster and it doesn't make her a freak, it makes her Emily." With those words, Jenna turned at left the restaurant, leaving Lydia sitting there all alone.
Jenna spent a good hour driving through the city, thinking about everything that had happened since Emily had dropped her bombshell on the family. Three months Emily had been gone, and who was to blame for that? She knew she was, and in light of the afternoons events, Jenna vowed to rectify the situation as soon as possible.
She pulled her car off to the side of the road, pulled out her mobile and dialled Katie's number, knowing that there was no way in hell Emily would answer a call from her. She thought about what she wanted to say to Emily as she waited for Katie to answer.
"Katie, love, are you still with Emily?" Jenna asked, before the older twin could greet her.
"Um, yeah. Why?"
"Are you all at Freddie's?"
"Mum, you're sounding kinda funny, and it's a bit scary, is everything alright?" Katie asked, and paused waiting for her to answer. "Yes, we're at Freddie's place." she replied when her mum didn't answer the question.
Jenna breathed out the lungful of air she'd been unknowingly holding in. "That's great, Katie. I'll swing round and pick you up. All of you."
"Whatdya mean all of us?" Katie asked, sounding suspicious. "Emily too?"
"Yes, love, Emily too. I'll be there in about ten minutes." Jenna disconnected the call, took a few deep breaths and then slowly eased back into traffic.
Ten minutes later, she pulled up in front of the McClair house, and saw all three of her children waiting for her. Katie looked annoyed, James looked angry and Emily looked terrified. 'That's all my fault.' Jenna told herself, sadly, but then steeled herself, 'Time to fix it.'
"Let's go kids." Her tone of voice allowed for no arguments, as they piled into the car. Jenna glanced at them, making sure they were buckled in, then pulled away from the kerb.
She drove past their house, knowing that they were looking at her strangely, and made her way to a small park outside of the city, were she used to take them when they were little.
Jenna let them mess around for a little bit once they reached their destination, before calling to them to come sit with her.
"Mum, what's this all about?" Katie asked the question all three of the kids were thinking, as they sat on the opposite side of the small table.
Jenna took a deep breath before answering, but when she did, she got right to the point. "I'm sorry, Emily. I'm sorry for the way I've treated you over the past three months, I'm sorry that I didn't listen you," she looked to Katie and James, "to any of you. And I'm sorry that I'm a massive twat."
Emily didn't say anything, she couldn't. The tears that had threatened to fall since Katie told her that Jenna was picking them all up, finally broke through the dam, and flowed freely down her face.
Jenna quickly went over to her, wrapping her up in her arms. "Oh, Emily! I'm so sorry, love. Please forgive me?" She pulled away slightly, to look Emily in the eyes. "I was shocked and scared. I didn't want you to be different."
Emily wiped away her tears. "But mum, I'm not different. I'm still the same." She replied in a shaky voice. "I needed you, and rejected me."
"I know you're the same and yes, I did reject you, I can't deny that, but I'm here now and I'm going to make it up to you, love, I promise." Jenna stated firmly, hoping that Emily could forgive her. "I know I'm not perfect, God knows I'm not, but I do love you, with all my heart."
Katie sat and watched her mum and sister, wondering what had happened to bring about the change, because she knew it wasn't because of her and James earlier.
"What brought this on?" Katie asked.
Jenna sat up straight and began explaining her encounter with Lydia. She watched Emily cringe when she told them about the woman catching Emily kissing another girl and grasped her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, but didn't stop telling them everything.
"Wow, mum! I'm really impressed." James said, smiling at her. "So does this mean Emsy can come home now?" He pleaded.
Jenna smiled at the excitement in his voice, then glanced around the table. "I would love it if she did, but I'm leaving that up to her."
Emily started to cry again, as she hugged her mum. "Yes!"
Katie sat there after telling Effy everything. "It was simple, yet complicated, ya know? Emily moved back home and Mum threw herself into being a parent with a fabulously gay daughter." She said, with a shrug. "It took awhile, don't get me wrong, my mum didn't completely change overnight, but she did start talking to Emily about it because she did want to understand."
Effy was even more amazed at Emily strength. To be able to put up with everything she did, at her most vulnerable, she'd be able to handle almost anything.
"Damn! That's actually rather incredible. Most kids would have taken matters into their own hands, possibly ending their lives, but it sounds like Emily powered through all that negativity."
"Yeah, once she got the full support of her whole family behind her, she basically became invincible. Or at least she feels invincible, hence the whole Mandy situation."
Effy nodded in agreement and was about to ask something, but the alarm on her phone started going off, letting her know that it was time to leave for their meeting with Gina and Kieran.
"Fuck, we've gotta go." She stated, oddly disappointed. That realisation hit Effy pretty hard, because over the years, she'd learn to not let things get to here, and she learned how to control her emotions.
They grabbed everything they needed and headed out the door, the time for retrospection over for now.
"What do you mean you haven't found anything?" The question roared out of the blonde, causing Emily to flinch slightly.
They were at the office, after the weekly meeting, were Emily had revealed that she had nothing as of yet on the Children of Gemini.
"I meant exactly what I said, Naomi. I've not been able to find anything in regards to them." Emily stated slowly, holding her ground.
"FUCK! This is not what I want to hear right now!" Naomi shouted, knowing that it really wasn't Emily's fault, but she couldn't help being frustrated, which turned into anger. "The whole concept of the video game revolves around this secret society, Emily! And why am I just now finding out about this?"
Emily steeled herself, because she had been warned about this very thing, Naomi's temper. Gina, Effy and Cook all told her about it, but she had found it hard to believe that the Naomi she had come to know in the last few weeks, could ever behave so badly.
"You don't think I know that, Naomi?" Emily asked, determined not to let this affect her. "Of course I fucking know that! I've been sitting in on these meeting, haven't I? I've been doing the research day in and day out for three weeks! By myself, I might add, and with limited resources, as well! So forgive me if I haven't performed to your bloody expectations!" Emily fired back, breathing slightly heavier, due to the fact that her ribs were killing her.
'Who knew you needed healthy ribs to yell at someone?' She thought to herself, as the pain throbbed.
"Limited resources? You're fucking joking right?" Naomi sneered at the thought that her personal library could ever be considered "limited". When Emily didn't answer right away, Naomi to a second to look at her, and noticed how pale she looked. "Ems, are you alright?" Naomi suddenly felt guilty, and started to panic.
She jumped up from her chair and rushed to the door, wrenching it open and yelled for Lara.
"Naomi, stop." Emily called out. She didn't want the blonde to make a big fuss. "I'm fine, just a little sore, that's all."
Naomi walked back over to her, noticing the sweat that had broken out on her face and the way Emily would grimace. "It doesn't look that way to me, you look like you're in serious pain, Ems." She said, crouching down in front of Emily, and gently wiped the sweat from her brow. "You need to see the doctor."
"No!" Emily whined, like a small child. "Please? If Jarod puts me back on bed rest, I'll go fucking crazy, Naomi."
Lara walked into the room as Emily was pleading with Naomi. "Do I need to call someone?" She asked, concern etched on her face. She looked back and forth between Emily and Naomi.
"Yes!"
"No!"
Naomi and Emily answered at the same time, which only caused confusion for Lara.
"So, I should...um...call the doctor?" Lara was slightly nervous about asking, but also strangely amused at seeing her boss looking flustered.
"Please, Naomi?" Emily pleaded again, making sure to keep her eyes locked on Naomi's.
Naomi struggled with herself, because she wanted to make sure that Emily was alright, but she also really wanted to give her anything she asked for, and that scared the shit out of her. For Emily to have that kind of power over her, so soon, was scary as fuck! But looking at the red head, Naomi knew she'd give in.
She sighed an exasperated sigh. "Fine, fucking whatever, " she growled out, standing up, "but if your pain gets worse, I'd damn well better know about it." She finished, again watching Emily flinch.
"Do you need anything, Emily? Would you like one of your pain pills?" Lara asked, quietly.
"Thank you, Lara. One pill should do it," she smiled, cheekily, "I wouldn't want to get completely off my tits, yeah?"
Lara laughed. "Probably not the best idea, what with your boss in the room and all." She said, causing Emily to chuckle despite her pain.
"I suppose you're right. Thank you, Lara." Emily said again, as she watch the girl leave the office.
It stayed silent in the room, as Naomi and Emily glared at each other, the tension settling between them. It wasn't broken until Lara came back in with a small white pill and a glass of water.
Emily took the offering, thanking the girl once again, before she placed the pill on her tongue and took a drink of water to wash it down. It did not go unnoticed by Emily that Naomi's eyed stayed glued to her the whole entire time, and when she finished the water, and set the glass down, Naomi quickly looked away. She smiled to herself at the thought, and was prepared to comment on it, but then she remembered the argument.
"Look, Naomi," Emily began, bringing them back to the topic at hand, "I'm not saying that they didn't exist, I'm just sating that I haven't found anything yet, okay? It's just gonna take more research, that's all."
"So what might you need to help...further the research?" Naomi smirked, letting her anger go.
Emily smiled at her, glad that Naomi seemed fine for now. "Well, to be honest, I need more in-depth material. The stuff you have is great, the census reports, birth and death documents, all that stuff is great, but we need to dig a little bit deeper."
Naomi sat back in her chair, feeling more defeated than ever. She knew this was even more of a long shot than the Greek mythology angle, but she was down to her last few months, and she was getting desperate. "I don't know if that's possible, Ems." she said, sadly.
"Why are you so sure about this? The Children of Gemini? Why does it have to be them?" Emily asked, concerned at the sudden sadness. "One person! Let's focus on one person and work from that."
Naomi was surprised at Emily's words. Terrified, actually. Because that one person was Sophia Moore. If she gave Emily Sophia's name, would she be able to dig deep enough? Would Emily find out about Ashley? This was turning into a disaster, the only good thing being Emily. Getting to spend time with her, getting to know her, had been great. But how would Emily react if she ever found out about Ashley? If she found out who Naomi used to be? Then what?
'Fuck it!' Naomi thought to herself. "One person, yeah?" She looked at the red head, earning a nod. "Sophia Moore."
Emily wrote the name down, stuck the paper into her pocket and stood up. "Great, can we go home now? I think I need to lie down for a bit." Naomi agreed and they headed home.
Emily had breathed a sigh of relief, having seen the Campbell anger and surviving it unscathed, but she was soon to find out that she had barely seen anything.
Emily had gone straight up to her room and laid down, falling asleep for a couple of hours. When she woke up, she made her way down to the library and started working. She pulled out the slip of paper she had tucked away, and got busy.
She had a method of starting at the end and digging her way to the beginning. She had found out that Sophia Moore recently turned twenty-five, had lived in Bristol, until four years ago, but then moved to Ravenshead with her family, before settling in Kingston Upon Hull. She owned a holistic garden, and sold herbal medicines.
Emily felt the excitement of finally getting somewhere, and kept looking. She had cursed out loud when she finally hit a wall, only able to go back a generation or two, with none of the time frame matching up with Naomi's needs. So she felt a road trip was in order. It really wouldn't hurt to go and visit Sophia, explain to her what they were looking for and see if she could help them, would it?
She made her way up to Naomi's room, taking care not to make any noise, so she didn't wake anyone else up. When she got to Naomi's door, it was slightly open and Emily could see the lights on inside. She tapped lightly on the door, softly calling out Naomi's name, but instead of waiting for a reply, she let herself into the room.
"Naomi?" She called out again, walking further into the huge room, looking in the lounge area, and the bedroom area, but she didn't find Naomi. "Naomi?" As Emily walked toward the en suite, she finally caught sight of the blonde, and stopped.
There stood Naomi, naked except for a pair of knickers. Emily's eyes raced to take in every detail of what she was seeing. She felt like the worlds biggest perv, as Naomi's backside was completely in view.
But Naomi's voice broke Emily from her viewing. "You're enjoying this so much, aren't you, Sophia?"
Emily's ears perked up at the name. Suddenly the electrical pulses in her body got more intense, more so than normal, and she cried out at the feeling, causing Naomi to turn around.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?" Naomi growled out, as she scrambled for her robe.
It wasn't fast enough however, as Emily saw every single scar and the seeping words written across her body. The red head gasped at the sight before her, Naomi's harshness falling on deaf ears.
"Wha...Naomi? What...happened?" Emily asked, her voice small.
"None of your damn business, get out!" Naomi snarled, truly feeling like the beast she had been turned into. The guilt set in immediately, as she saw hurt in Emily's eyes, but she also had Sophia laughing inside her head, plus those fucking electrical pulses were getting stronger and the combination was too much for Naomi take.
She advanced on Emily, causing the younger twin to step back, fear running through her.
"You shouldn't be in here! There's nothing for you to see, so just leave!" Naomi stated as she grabbed ahold of Emily's arm and started dragging her out of the room.
"I didn't mean anything, I'm sorry. Naomi, please stop, you're hurting me."
Naomi got to the door, flinging it open. "I DON'T CARE! GET OUT!" Naomi roared, as she pushed Emily out of the room.
"Fine! I'm out!" Emily spat back, the fear turning into anger. She was about to turn leave, but turned around quickly, and glared at Naomi. "I only came up here to let you know I found Sophia!"
By this time Naomi and Emily had attracted some attention, but neither one noticed Effy, Katie and Cook standing in the hallway watching the drama unfold.
Naomi's eyes narrowed at Emily's announcement, knowing that she had gotten farther than Naomi ever had, but that just made her angrier. "Well done, you, but I really couldn't give a fuck!"
"Ya know this isn't gonna end well, right?" Cook whispered to Effy and Katie, as they looked on.
Effy shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, but we knew this was gonna happen, sooner or later. I'm actually surprised it took this long, to be honest."
"Shouldn't we try and stop them?" Katie was worried that they were going to start throwing punches.
"No." Effy and Cook replied at the same time, content for the moment to stand in the shadows and wait.
Naomi stood just inside her door, while Emily stood just outside of it, and if looks could've killed, both of them would have died twenty times over.
"You know what, Naomi?" Emily was fuelled by the pulses ripping through her, and she knew that she was going regret anything that came out of her mouth, but her anger kept her mouth going. "You really are a total bitch, aren't you? It's not like I meant to barge in on you!"
"How dare you?" Naomi spluttered out, unable to the hurt that she felt. She clutched the robe around her a little tighter, preparing to fire back.
"Don't worry, Miss Campbell, I know the way back home, so I'll see myself out." Emily spat out, turning around to leave. Before she took a step, she saw Effy, Cook and Katie. "What?" She barked at them, but didn't wait for an answer.
"You can't go anywhere! We have a contract!" Naomi shouted after her, wondering how this escalated so fast.
"Fuck your contract!" Emily shouted.
Everyone watched as she flew down the hall, then jumped as her door slammed shut.
"Well, that was eventful. What'd ya do Campbell?" Katie asked, earning a glare from the blonde. Katie was going to say something, but Emily's door opened again, and the red head came running out and took off down the stairs.
They all looked at each other briefly, before Cook ran into Naomi's room and straight to her balcony. The girls followed him and watched as Emily stormed out the front door.
"Emily! Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Katie called out to her sister.
"Anywhere away from Naomi!" She replied. "Like I wanna stay here another minute!"
Naomi's anger came back, full force. "FINE! FUCKING GO AND DON'T COME BACK!" She turned and left the balcony, leaving Katie, Effy and Cook staring after the younger twin.
Cook and Katie went after the blonde, while Effy stayed put, so she was the only one to hear Emily's response.
"Don't worry, I won't." Said so quietly, it almost disappeared in the cold January wind, but Effy did hear it and she shook her head, knowing that she would have to step in and try to fix this.
And now I'm just gonna...ya know...go over here and hide...
Now before you all decide that I need to lynched and that y'all are the right peeps for the job, let me say in my defense...this chapter wasn't even supposed to be this long, but the more I tried to wrap up the chapter, the more it kept writing itself, so I knew I'd have to end it there if I ever wanted to get this posted!
So...anyhoo, I wanna thank you all for reading, adding this to your alerts, favoriting, but also for reviewing. Believe it or not, every review means a lot to the authors, it let's them know that what they're writing is good/needs work/that you, the reader appreciates them! Whatever you choose to say in a review matters to every author, even if it's just to say "hello" or "more, please" or "I like what you're doing here" or even "it's okay, but I'd like to see this happen" because it takes a lot of effort to for some writers to get each chapter out, a chapter of quality and one that they can be proud of, so leave you favorite author a review...you never know, it could just brighten up their day! :)
thanks for everything guys,
Marci